PEOPLE have voted overwhelmingly against expansion of their village.

Residents of Sadberge, near Darlington, who attended an open meeting to discuss a parish plan, voted four-to-one against development of housing.

The meeting put forward four scenarios to discuss what impact more housing would have.

People were concerned the village had already lost its primary school, which closed in 2004, and bus services. The post office and shop may be forced to shut this year when its postmaster retires.

Alastair Mackenzie, from the steering group, said extra people would not have enough impact on the commercial viability of services. He said: "The loss of services in villages like Sadberge is a real worry. However, building houses on the old reservoir site is not the answer."